Hosiery



Jan.zs,1941. 'R BEUTER HAL 2,229,790

I HOSIERY 'Filed May 5, 1939 W (d 0 \\1 l' 111/111 11111/411111 111111,', ,m

INVENTORS RHLPH BEUTER RL MHK MHRSCH/VER.

BY FRED M'VER A o EY. s

Patented Jantz, 1'941 ll'A'r"ENT oFFlca Y n osnntiz y Y i Ralph Beutel', Karl Max ltiarschnei',l and 'Alfred' 1 Marschner, Philadelphia,la, Appiicatiun May 5, 1939, serial Np. 271,826

. 8 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in hosiery, and more specifically in the construction of the foot thereof, with the object of eliminating a number of halfsizesr of foot length now considered essential to a complete line of hosiery, and at the same time securing proper fit as to length over the same range, and,

in addition, better fit,` and greater comfort in the At the present time ladies high-grade hosiery is made in half sizes as to length running from, say, 'l1/2 to 1l or a. total of eight'different foot lengths, 'In addition, some manufacturers, recognizing that there is a wide variation in the height of the instep, make each size. in two or more instep heights. In this way, perhaps the most important variations in the human foot have been toe and instep. v

provided for to some extent, but others have been o ignored, such, for example, as variations infwidth across the toes and the heel, and abnormal, but by no means uncommon, departures from stand- Yardofany two or more of these dimensions.

By this invention itshould be possible to limit such hosiery to four sizes, say,`8-, 9, 10'and 11 to stocking, which may be generally standard in construction with the exception of the heel or toe, or both;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragment of "the fabric of the heel or toe, or both; Vand Figure 3 is a similar fragment showing a `structural modication.

As shown, the foot may consist ofthe usual reinforced heel, sole and toe portions, I, 2 and 3, respectively, and the unreinforced instep portion l. All` of these parts may have the usualorany desiredrshape and maybe knit, generally speaking, in the usual/way. However, thestructure o'f the heel and toe is novel.

For example, the heel I, which is usually com posed of heavily reinforced fabric of uniform simple loop structure, is by this invention knit in the following way: When the heel tabs are started a few courses 5 of the usual 'reinforced fabric composed o1' simple interlinked loops may be proous courses, or it may be different.

Aelastic lengthwise, and also has much greater 3,

duced, the length of loop employed being generally somewhat longer than that of the unreinforced legl and instep to permit the inclusion of reinforcing yarns. and yet, short enough to obtain fabric of the desired tightness. 'I'hese courses are followed'by one or more courses 6 of a yarn having; substantially greater inherent elasticity. The loop length mayvbe'the same as that of previ- Preferably. although not necessarily, it should be such that the fabric of this course or courses will be of substantiallythe same tightness as that of ,the other courses, so that the loop length employed will be determined primarily by the size of. the yarn employed. v When thesecourses are completed several more .reinforced courses l similar to courses 5 are knit greater elasticity, and so on until the toe is completed. Inother words, the construction of the toe may be the same as that of the heel although the number, loop length, etc., of the courses may be different.

In this way' a stocking foot is produced which, becauseof the inclusion of the relatively elastic courses in the heel or toe, or both, is much more circumferential elasticity in the toe and much greater longitudinal-elasticity in the heel. Because of the lengthwise elasticity o f the foot, stockings knit .to sizes 8, 9 and 10 will fit feet normally requiring sizes from 'l1/2 to 10i/2, thus reducing the required number of foot lengths by at least 50%. Also, because of the greater circumli'erential elasticity of the toe each stocking will accommodate itself to a wide variation of foot width in this portion so that a snug fit can be ob- 45 tained at the toe irrespective of the width of the foot there. The circumferential elasticity of the heel permits it to adapt itself to various widths of heel without pulling the other parts of the foot and instep out of their proper position, and the `vertical elasticity of the heel insures that any unnecessary slack in the length of the foot will be taken up there. In addition, the combined Vhorizaintal and vertical elasticity of the heel is alsovenective in the diagonal direction so that de- 5g partures from normal in other parts of the foot will be accommodated without pulling the instep fabric out of position.

In short, the elasticity of the toe and heel obf tained by this invention produces a stocking foot which is extremely flexible and which will fit perfectly feet which would normally require several different sizes as to length and still different sizes as to instep height. It is no longer necessary, for example, for one having an unusually high instep to obtain the necessary room in this part by wearing a stocking which is altogether too long for the foot, and folding under the toe, which is a very common practice. In addition, perfect fit around the toe and at the heel is assured.

In view of the fact that the elastic courses described above may be lacking in desirable strength and may differ in appearance from the rest of the heel and toe fabric, the above struc# ture may be modified, if desired, by simultaneously knitting with the elastic yarn, a yarn 9 similar to that employed in the 'adjacent sections. Since these yarns are knit together they will, of course, have the same loop length, but because one yarn is more elastic than the other, the loops of the less elastic yarn will normally be loose and will not come vunder tension until the loops of the elastic yarn have been stretched. In this way the elastic yarn is strengthened by reinforcement and the elastic courses made to resemble more closely the other courses. This structure is shown in Figure 3, wherein the relatively inelastic bands.

2. A stocking foot having a heel portion composed of a plurality of relatively narrow bands of tight knit reinforced fabric, each band of which is joined to the following band by at least one course of substantially the same tightness composed of a yarn having materially greater inherent elasticity than the yarn of said bands.

3. A stocking foot having a toe portion composed of a plurality of relatively narrow bands of tight knit reinforced fabric, each band of which is joined to the following band by at least one course of substantially the same tightness cornposed of a yarn having materially greater inherent elasticity than the yarn of said bands.

4. A stocking foot having a toe portion composed of a plurality of series of courses of reinforced fabric, each series of which is joined to the following series by at least one course composed of a yarn having materially greater in'- herentelasticity than the yarn of said series, and a reinforcing yarn of normal elasticity.

5. The method of knitting the heel portion of a stocking which consists ofiirst knitting a series of tight reinforced courses, then knitting at least one course of substantially the same tightness of a yarn of substantially greater inherent elasticity and then repeating in the order indicated as many times as desired.

6. The method of knitting the toe portion of a. stocking which consists of first knitting a series of tight reinforced courses, then knitting at le'ast one course of substantially the same tightness of a yarn of substantially greater inherent elasticity and then repeating in the order indicated as many times as desired.

'7. The method of knitting the heel portion of a stocking, which consists of first knitting a series of reinforced courses, then knitting at least one course of a yarn of substantially greater in-v herent elasticity reinforced by a yarn of normal elasticity, and then repeating in the order indicated as many times as desired.

8. The method of knitting a toe portion of a stocking, which consists of rst knitting a series of reinforced courses, then knitting at least one course of a yarn of substantially greater elasticity reinforced by another yarn of normal elasticity, and then repeating in the order indicated as many times as desired.

RALPH BEUTER. KARL MAX MARSCHNER. ALFRED MARSCHNER. 

